Annexation request may be coming to Othello

OTHELLO — New property could be coming into the city of Othello, destined for eventual development.

Othello City Council members approved a “notice of intent” for annexation at the regular meeting Feb. 10. Development Director Anne Henning said in a separate interview that the notice of annexation starts the process, but that’s just the start.

“The council looks at the boundaries of the proposed annexation, the zoning and the indebtedness,” Henning told council members. “Approving it to move forward doesn’t mean you’re approving the annexation.”

The property is about 187 acres west of State Route 17 and north of State Route 26, adjacent to the Columbia Basin Health Association clinic and Wahitis Elementary School. A map submitted with the annexation request proposes 93 acres of commercial development along SR 26 and about 80 acres of multi-family housing, with access from West Cemetery Road.

The section along SR 17 is designated as residential in the city’s comprehensive plan. The developers propose possibly changing that section to allow commercial development.

Hampton Development submitted the request; Hampton Properties and R.A. Hampton own most of the land in the proposed annexation area.

Evan Mann, representing the developer, said development is a long-term process.

“(If) annexation is going well, development could be within the next couple of years. These things don’t move quickly. There’s annexation, there’s planning processes, extending utilities, there’s a lot of considerations here,” Mann said. “We would definitely be within the timeline of a couple of years.”

In answer to a question from Othello Mayor Shawn Logan, Mann said full development would take much longer than that.

“On a project of this size, a full buildout could be 10 years or more. It just depends, obviously, on market influences (and) demand, but projects of this size could easily extend out to up to 10 years,” Mann said.

Henning told council members that the maximum amount of property that might be annexed is determined during the intent to annex phase.

“You can make it smaller. You can’t make it bigger,” she said.

Henning said that once the council acknowledged the notice of intent, the next phase would be an actual annexation request. That requires a lot more information, she said.

Property owners with at least 60% of the assessed valuation of land within the proposed annexation must agree to do it before a petition can proceed. The request would be reviewed by Adams County officials, then council members would schedule a public hearing.

One property owner in the section proposed for annexation didn’t give an opinion on the notice of intent, and Henning said leaving them out would make what she called an “island” of property still in Adams County, but surrounded by the city. Council members decided to include that piece as part of the land under consideration.

“You could leave an unincorporated island,” she said. "If that (landowner) is adamantly opposed, you could leave them out, or you could include them. They could be required to be (annexed), if that’s what the council chooses,” she said.

The annexation process requires public hearings. Once that’s done council members can make a decision immediately or ask for more information, she said.

The actual annexation process itself requires a lot more detail, everything from traffic studies to environmental reviews, she said.